Results tagged “thetheater”

Director, playwright, actor and outcast surrealist Antonin Artaud is perhaps best known for the manifestos set forth in his book Theater and Its Double, which envisioned a new form of radical performance he dubbed “The Theater of Cruelty.” Artaud intended to shock audiences out of complacency by replacing the familiar comforts of naturalistic psycho-drama with a surreal, sensually graphic theatricality, one that traded escapism for confrontation and – Artaud theorized – would rock the bourgeois establishment with “humor as destruction.”

The welcome trend of artists playing their entire albums through live in concert has spread to the country world. Lucinda Williams was in town this week for five (relatively) intimate shows at Irving Plaza and Town Hall, each featuring one of her five albums. Lucinda didn't stop at just recreating her past work -- after a short intermission set by up and coming singer/songwriter Fionn Regan, she'd come back up for another set of old and new jams while joined by some friends of hers. And at that, what went from a rather sedate and straightforward show erupted into a grand ol' hoedown, with all sorts of dancing and singing and goofing around. Perhaps the highlight on the night we went was seeing 80-something year old Charlie Louvin up on stage well after midnight, not only keeping up with the party, but stopping the room in its tracks with a stunning rendition of 'When I Stop Dreaming.' What a show, what a party.

Whichever stadium/arena/field/theater/concert hall had the worst name, that title has been passed along. We're not sure what it was, but it now belongs to the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden. Not only is the official name obscenely long, but its short form, WaMu Theater, is just plain silly sounding. The Washington Mutual Theater has a much nicer ring to it, no? Madison Square Garden and Washington Mutual announced that they inked a long term agreement for the naming rights of the MSG venue formerly known as just The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Terms of the multi-year contract were not disclosed, but Cablevision and the Dolans probably padded their wallets pretty nicely. Maybe they can blow the money on the Knicks!

Culturemart, the annual “hybrid” performance festival, is now in full swing at HERE. The festival gives HERE’s resident artists a chance to share the fruit of their year-long residencies. Although the shows are still “in progress” and rough around the edges, the work is typically more engaging than a lot of “finished” productions. Here’s a sampling of some projects yet to be performed:

Unlike last year's draft, which had high schooler LeBron James as the top prize, this year's draft seems to be short on impact players and long on potential. When the draft finally comes around at the end of June, expect to hear the word "upside" at least 70 times. Perhaps Gothamist will keep a count. UConn junior Emeka Okafor, fresh off a national title, figures to be the top selection this year.

There is much talk about who the Giants might take with their pick. While the fourth pick is great, they are in a position where players that would really fit a need will no longer be there, or can be drafted later in the round. Everybody is talking about Eli Manning and Robert Gallery. Eli Manning, the younger brother of Colts QB Peyton Manning and son of Archie Manning, starred at Ole Miss. His father wants him to join the Giants, and he could be a great replacement for Kerry Collins who is in the final year of his contract. Robert Gallery is a huge (6'7", 320 pounds) offensive tackle from Iowa. One of his negatives, according to NFL.com reads, "because of his height and girth, he does not always sink his pads properly." Despite his height and girth, franchise tackles like Gallery are hard to come by, which is why there is also tremendous interest in Gallery, who is apparently awe inspiring to those that see him. Should the Giants trade up to the first pick to take Manning or Gallery? Or do they take Ben Roethlisberger with the 4th pick?